Ninon Wakeland

​​My fascination with everyday street scenes reflects my hope and struggle to believe that the most beautiful moments in life are not always as expected. Perhaps these precious times are all at once – mundane and frenzied, fragile and strong, peaceful and painful, sunny and dark.I work with acrylic paint and palette knives. I find that the endlessness to the variety of mark I can make with these tools challenges and fascinates me. I love the physicality and range of the knife – aggressive slices, delicate dabs, focused scrapes and thick bold swaths of colour. The paint is so flexible - I can spray, splatter, blob and pour it. These qualities enable me to express a wide range of emotion in each piece.

I am greatly influenced by the European Impressionists. Their sensitive offerings physically and emotionally connect me to their 19th century world. My application of paint does not result in realistic representation. Rather, I am satisfied with a rough familiarity and mood of subject. My goal is to present an intriguing balance of roughness and tenderness; boldness and vulnerability, representation and expression.​​